42 Social life

A

B Social and emotional commitments

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Hi Nicholas, What did you get up to1 at the weekend, anything exciting? We had quite a nice weekend here. It was my mum’s birthday, so my sister and I treated her to2 a night out. We took her out for dinner on Saturday, and then we went on to a jazz club because she’s a great jazz fan. Mansour

1 (informal) do 2 paid for her to do something pleasant

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Hi Mansour, Glad to hear you had a nice weekend. I did too. I was passing by an old friend’s place on Sunday, so I called in on3 him. Luckily he was at home. We didn’t do anything special, just hung out4 and chatted. Nicholas

3 visited for a short time, usually 4 spent time together not doing anything special on your way to somewhere else

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Hi Holly, It’s just one big letdown5 after another in my love life at the moment. The day after we had that terrible row, Kian dropped by6 and persuaded me to agree to him taking me out7 for a meal last night. I thought it would be a chance for us to forget everything, you know, and move on8. I should have refused, but I said yes, and then he stood me up again. He phoned afterwards and gave some feeble excuse and now he’s all romantic again and wants to meet up. I know what you’re going to say – it’s your fault, deal with it, and say no. Is that right? Flora

5 disappointment 6 made a short visit to someone, usually without arranging it 7 going somewhere and doing something with someone, usually something you have planned or paid for 8 go forward in one’s life and not look back to the past

Other aspects of social life

We’re having a small get-together at our place on Saturday night. Would you like to come? [informal social gathering] Shall I call Amelia and see if we can hook up with her and Nancy and go clubbing? [(informal) meet someone for a particular purpose] It’s six o’clock. I’d better shoot off or I’ll be late for dinner. [(informal) leave] Wow, that was a fantastic meal. I’ll need a couple of days to sleep it off now, though! [sleep until you feel better, especially after too much alcohol or food] Loads of people rolled up to see Theo’s band at Zino’s last night. [arrived at a particular place or event – when people roll up somewhere, they often arrive late] They had to turn people away as there wasn’t enough room. [refuse to allow them to enter] I’m really getting into snowboarding. It’s amazing. [becoming involved in an activity] Let’s invite Dan too. We mustn’t forget him just because he’s moved away from the village.

42.1

42.2

42.3

Complete the phrasal verbs or phrasal expressions in the second speaker’s answers.

1 Mark Do you still find it difficult living on your own?

2 Jules Well, I’ve just got to with it and

Hamza Was the concert as good as you expected? on. It’s no good living in the past.

Steve No, it was a big . Very poor. A complete disappointment.

3 Maksim Can’t you stay for dinner? We’ve got loads of food.

Archie No, I’d better off now; I’ve got a report to do for tomorrow morning.

4

5 Eliza Seth, how nice to see you! I wasn’t expecting a visit!

Seth Well, I was just by so I thought I’d come and say hello.

David How was Henry’s birthday celebration?

Rachel Well, we all up expecting a big party, but there were only a few members of his family there.

Answer these questions.

1 If someone says they’ve been getting seriously into bird-watching, what do they mean? 2 If someone asks you what you got up to over the summer, what do they want to know? 3 If someone said they were having a family get-together, what would be happening? 4 If someone says to you, ‘Let’s just hang out’, what do they want to do? 5 If someone said they wanted to take you out, is it likely they want to (a) kill you, (b) go out with you and pay for you, (c) go with you to show you the way out of a building?

Read these remarks by different people and then answer the questions below.

Hessa Alexander dropped by the other day.

Lara It would be nice to hook up with Jake and Liam.

Amy Mum and Dad treated me to a wonderful weekend in Paris.

Callum I’ll need a week to sleep off that dinner!

Ivy I got turned away from that restaurant once.

Thomas I moved away from Hobblethorpe because I needed a change.

Jessica It’d be nice to call in on Alejandro when we’re in town.

Ronnie After the meal we went on to a really great club.

1 Who had far too much of something? 2 Who was not allowed to enter somewhere? 3 Who wants to visit someone? 4 Who went to live in a different place? 5 Who was visited by someone? 6 Who was already out somewhere and then went somewhere else? 7 Who wants to meet someone? 8 Who had a nice time and didn’t have to pay?